(In the voice of NASA, circa 1970) Houston, we have a Joe Biden problem!
Top News Today :
Last week, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump met for the first presidential debate of the election season. Hosted by CNN and without an audience present, Democrats expected the debate to portray Trump as the convicted felon that he is — while showing off Mr. Biden as a savvy and vigorous commander-in-chief who’s capable and deserving of 4 more years in The White House.
It didn’t go well.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave with no contact with the outside world, you’re probably well aware that the debate was an unmitigated disaster.
After spending more than a week at Camp David to prepare, Mr. Biden fell apart within the first few minutes. Instead of appearing as a powerful and competent leader of the free world, he looked more like someone’s great-grandfather as he shuffled onstage toward the podium. He spoke in a hoarse whisper throughout the evening and made it frequently difficult for anyone to hear him (despite having a microphone). He stumbled and stammered over his words (after all, he does have a stuttering problem). He’d begin a discussion on one topic, then completely switch topics mid-sentence before losing his train of thought and giving up on a response altogether.
To put it bluntly, Mr. Biden appeared unhealthy, lacking stamina, and possibly senile. At one point in the evening, the president mumbled a response to a question, prompting Donald Trump to reply, “I don’t know what he just said — and I don’t think he does either.”
It was so bad that had it been a boxing match, the referees would have stopped it.
Yes, there is a whale of a Joe Biden problem and Democrats everywhere are going berserk over how to fix it. However, since perception is everything, the damage may already be done.
On Friday morning, news outlets published damning opinion headlines.
“We just witnessed the end of Joe Biden’s presidency,” said The New York Post.
It was “a car accident in slow motion,” said CNN.
“To serve his country, President Biden should leave the race,” said The New York Times.
“Time to go, Joe,” said The Atlantic.
The criticisms didn’t end there.
“With all of that preparation, he was incapable of doing better than he was, and you can’t come back from that,” noted political journalist Chris Wallace said.
Democratic political analyst Van Jones was almost in tears when he spoke of the Joe Biden problem.
“I love that guy as a good man. He loves his country. He’s doing the best that he can. But he had a test to meet tonight. To restore confidence, of the country and of the base and he failed to do that. And I think there’s a lot of people who are going to want to see him consider taking a different course now,” Jones said.
“We’re still far from our convention, and there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward, if he will allow us to do that,” he continued. “But that was not what we needed from Joe Biden. And it’s personally painful for a lot of people. It’s not just panic. It’s pain of what we saw tonight.”
Not long thereafter, more dominos began to fall.
Democrats from across the country began collectively coming to the conclusion that although President Biden is an American hero who came out of retirement to save the nation from Donald Trump in 2020, he’s now an 81-year-old man who appears incapable of running the United States of America.
Democratic donors began conferencing and discussing ways to remove Mr. Biden from the ticket. Democratic operatives scrambled as they began trying to figure out who they could nominate in Biden’s place at this late date. Democratic politicians also began weighing disaster options.
“All incumbent Democratic Senators should write to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate. A couple of Governors may need to do the same,” former Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who served alongside Mr. Biden in the US Senate for decades, wrote in a letter to prominent party leaders.
“There is still time for a course correction and a new Democratic ticket, which would energize the party at all levels and capture the general public’s attention — many of whom would like an alternative to Trump,” Harkin continued. “This is a perilous time and is more important than Joe Biden’s ego — or desire to stay president.”
However, not everyone believes that the very visible Joe Biden problem means the sky is falling.
Former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama took an alternate approach and asked party operatives and voters to remain calm.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,” Mr. Obama said in a post on Twitter/X. “Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 28, 2024
“I’ll leave the debate rating to the pundits, but here’s what I know: facts and history matter,” Mr. Clinton said in his own post on Twitter/X.
Asking the sitting President of the United States to step aside and not run again would be a delicate dance loaded with land mines. In fact, the whispers are already becoming disastrous.
Mr. Biden is said to be adamantly against dropping out of the race — and First Lady Jill Biden (as of now) reportedly supports that decision.
Vice-President Kamala Harris is aware of the growing Democratic efforts to replace Mr. Biden. However, she’s reportedly seething mad that the party is looking at names other than her as the heir apparent.
Meanwhile, Democrats have ordered a new nationwide poll to gauge the thoughts of voters following the debate. Do voters believe Mr. Biden should be replaced, or do they attribute his performance last week to him merely having 1 bad night?
The one saving grace from last week’s debate is that Donald Trump didn’t fare much better than President Biden. Trump neglected to give direct answers to most questions, told lie after lie (as usual), and unknowingly reminded voters that he’s a convicted felon. However, even through his tall tales, Trump at least appeared capable.
Does America have a Joe Biden problem? If so, what, if anything should be done about it?
OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Debate proves there is a huge Joe Biden problem.
Business Insider Today, President Joe Biden will meet his family at Camp David to discuss the future of his election campaign, according to multiple reports. It will likely be one of the most agonizing decisions of his long political life. The pre-planned trip — a chance for the entire family, children and grandchildren included, to take a family photo — is a timely opportunity for a private meeting among the people who are perhaps most influential in Biden’s life. His family played a key role in his decision to run in 2020. In the 48 hours since the debate, a chorus of donors and other supporters have called on Biden to step aside. The New York Times editorial board did the same. Outside a fundraising event on Saturday, voters who support Biden held signs asking him to exit the race. The weekend was dominated by debates about who could take… Read more »